It's a Gift and A Wait No It's Just a Gift
by Collegekid2006
Summary: Like father, Like son.


"Get in." Juliet ordered, opening the car door and ushering her son inside.

"But, Moooooom!" He protested, his shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes as he bounced into the back seat.

"No!" She snapped, slamming the door behind him and getting into the driver's seat. "Not this time! You're in _big_ trouble, Kid!"

"But it's not my fault!"

"Yes, it is! You were cheating!"

"I wasn't cheating!" He insisted, buckling his seatbelt as they pulled out of the school parking lot. "It's not my fault I memorized the answers!"

"What about _selling_ the answers to your classmates?" She shot back, glaring at him in the rearview mirror. "Was that not your fault, either?"

"Uh…" he stammered, fiddling with the buckle clasp so he could avoid her gaze.

"How much were you charging them?" Juliet pressed on.

He just shrugged, still staring at the buckle.

"I dunno…"

"Tell me. Now."

"Five bucks."

She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"What would your dad say if he knew?"

"That I could have gotten ten?"

Juliet shot him a warning glare in the mirror, but he just returned it with an innocent, impish grin.

She laughed and shook her head, her face softening as she saw Shawn staring back at her in her son's shining, mischievous hazel eyes.

"Okay, fine…that's what Dad would say." She conceded. "But what would Grandpa Henry say?"

That did the trick. He gasped, suddenly looking truly horrified.

"You're not going to tell Grandpa, are you?" He pleaded. "Please don't tell Grandpa! He won't take me fishing if he knows I got in trouble!"

"That's up to your dad." She told him, looking down at her watch as she pulled into a parking space in front of Psych. "I'm supposed to be at a crime scene right now. Since _you_ can't go back to school today, you're staying here until I get off."

"Can't I come look at the dead body with you?"

"No! You're being punished, remember?"

"You do know Dad and Uncle Gus have a pinball machine here, right…?" He snorted, crossing his arms.

Juliet considered this for a moment before finally getting out of the car.

"They also have the History Chanel." She told him, opening his door and shooing him out of the car. "I'll make you watch a boring documentary with Uncle Gus. Get in there!"

"Not the History Chanel!" He moaned, walking ahead of his mother with the piteous air of someone who had just been sentenced to death.

Shawn and Gus were at the pinball machine when they walked in.

When he saw his wife, Shawn quickly stepped back from it, clearing his throat guiltily.

"Hi, Jules…we were working. Really!"

"Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Kid." Shawn grinned, tousling his son's hair. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I was framed!" He insisted quickly, before Juliet could jump in with her version of the story. "I'm an innocent victim, Dad! It's a conspiracy! The principal hates me!"

Juliet glared at him.

"History Chanel." She ordered, pointing emphatically at the other room. "Now!"

"You were serious?"

"Yes. Move!"

He groaned and trudged into the other room slowly, as if he was taking his final steps.

"And no pinball!" She called after him.

"History Chanel?" Gus repeated, eagerly following him into the adjoining room. "I think that documentary about the Aztecs is on…I've been wanting to see it."

When they were finally alone, Shawn turned to his wife.

"No pinball?" He asked, looking hurt. "What could he possibly have done to deserve having his pinball rights revoked? Start a riot in the lunchroom or something?"  
"He was cheating!" Juliet told him. "He memorized all the answer keys to every test, and he was selling them to his classmates for five bucks a pop!"  
"Five?" Shawn snorted. "With this economy…he could've gotten ten easy!"

"That's not the point!" Juliet snapped, smacking Shawn in the arm.

"What?" Shawn laughed, shrugging. "He's a kid. It's not his fault he has a photographic memory. It's a gift."

"I know it's a gift, Shawn." She sighed, sitting down. "But you need to talk to him about using it for good and not evil!"

"Okay, okay…" he grinned impishly, just like his son. "I will. No more evil photographic memory use. From now on, he'll only use it to solve world hunger."

She laughed despite herself, already feeling every trace of irritation flow out of her body.

"I'm serious, Shawn."

"I know. So am I. I'll talk to him."

"Good."

She stood up and walked to the door.

"Of course…" he added just as she was about to leave. "We _could_ just sick Grandpa Henry on him…you know how Grandpa Henry loves a good lecture."

"You'd do that to your own son?"

Shawn grinned.

"Hey…it's _his_ gift. We have photographic memory, he has Super Lecture."


End file.
